The fourth-seeded Wildcats (21-2-2) turned the tides after a nightmare start. The Wildcats spent most of the opening half on their heels, turning back one Jordan rush after another.

The Falcons dominated play early and had several chances slide just outside the goal posts, but the New Hanover backline held strong.

Gunnell’s goal changed the narrative midway through the second half. Junior Ian Bennett received a long punt from goalie Max Johnson and split two defenders with a pass into space.

Gunnell ran onto the service with only keeper Billy Morgenlander to beat. He ripped a low shot along the wet ground and took off running in the opposite direction as the ball reached the back of the net for his 13th goal of the season.

The Falcons pushed for the equalizer late but couldn’t manage any clean looks in the closing minutes.

BEULAVILLE — Fifth-seeded N.C. School of Science & Mathematics recovered from a 1-0 halftime deficit to tie the score in the second half and wound up beating No. 4 seed East Duplin 2-1 on a goal by Jarod Glover with 2:29 left in the second and final overtime period Wednesday.

NCSSM improved to 17-3-1 with the win and advanced to this weekend’s state 2-A quarterfinals. The Unicorns will travel to No. 1 seed First Flight in Kill Devil Hills (21-0) most likely Saturday evening for their quarterfinal match.

The exact time and date is expected to be announced today.

Adam Canales gave East Duplin (18-4-1) a 1-0 lead with 3:10 left in the first half before Thomas Baraldi’s knotted it at 1-1 only 45 seconds into the second half. It stayed that way through the rest of that 40-minute half and the first of two required 10-minute overtimes.

Glover’s goal finally ended it at the 97:31 mark.

NCSSM is one of two area 2-A teams left in the original 64-team field. No. 7 seed Carrboro (16-5-2), last year’s state 2-A runner-up, advanced with a win Tuesday night and will travel to No. 3 seed Clinton (21-3-2) for the other state quarterfinal game.

The winners of this weekend’s NCSSM and Carrboro quarterfinals will meet in next week’s state semifinals, the NCHSAA East Region championship game. If both NCSSM and Carrboro advance, the game would be played Tuesday or Wednesday at NCSSM.

STEM — Sophomore Peter Baroff scored a pair of goals and Granville Central scored Woods Charter’s third on an own-goal off an errant header as No. 5 seed Woods Charter upset No. 1 seed Granville Central in the third round of the state 1-A playoffs here Wednesday night.

Peyton Thomas had put Granville Central on top 1-0 in the second half before the score was evened by the own-goal a short time later. Woods Charter’s Baroff scored twice — his 47th and 48th goals of the season — to give WC a 3-1 lead.

Granville Central saw a late comeback come up short.

Panthers’ star Noe Geronimo — a likely major college recruiting target, according to Granville Central coach Mike Atkinson — scored to make it 3-2 with 25 seconds left.

Granville (18-4-1) got a shot at the tying goal with six seconds to play but a corner kick went awry and Woods Charter (17-3), which is located in Chapel Hill, advanced to the state quarterfinals.

Woods Charter will host No. 7 seed Raleigh Charter (19-5) in the state 1-A quarters on Friday or Saturday.

Game time and date had not been announced as of Wednesday night.

The season was a remarkable one for Granville Central and first-year coach Atkinson. The Panthers were winless a year ago and made it all the way to No. 4 in the state 1-A rankings and locked down the No. 1 seed in the East Regional.

“It was all about busting our butts in the offseason,” Atkinson said. “It’s been a great year, no matter what happened tonight.”